The University of Toledo reached its now-or-never moment early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s second-round WBIT game against St. John’s.
The Rockets trailed by nine, plagued by mistakes and inattentive defense.
Sammi Mikonowicz knew something had to change, and that it would. A season that already featured a disappointing semifinal loss in the Mid-American Conference tournament wasn’t about to end with an early exit from the WBIT.
Her teammates agreed, outscoring St. John’s 19-9 over the final seven minutes to beat the Red Storm 72-71 and advance to the quarterfinals at Washington State (20-14) on Thursday.
“We just knew,” said Mikonowicz, who finished with a team-high 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three blocks. “We clawed our way back how many times. So we knew it was time. We needed to lock down. If we wanted to win this game, we had to get those stops.”
The Red Storm, who shot 22 of 42 from the field in the first three quarters (7 of 14 from 3), were just 6 of 15 and 1 of 4 in the fourth quarter. During the consequential final seven minutes, St. John’s was 4 of 12 and made zero 3s.
Just as problematic, St. John’s (18-15) made just 1 of 4 free throw attempts in the last minute and 5 of 11 for the game.
For the second consecutive game, the opposing team credited Toledo’s crowd — 2,521 on Sunday — with assisting the Rockets in dialing up the energy and playing a role in the game’s outcome.
“Great atmosphere to play in,” St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella said. “I’ve been doing this long enough to know the tradition here and what coach [Tricia] Cullop’s done.”
UT had a 35-25 rebounding advantage and 11-6 on the offensive glass. The Rockets (28-5) used their size advantage to outscore St. John’s 44-28 in the paint.
Jillian Archer and Phoenix Gedeon, St. John’s two 6-foot-plus forwards, were each whistled for two fouls in the first half.
“When you’ve got two players that are bigs on your team that are your rotation and they have fouls out of the gate, it's kind of difficult,” Tartamella said. “It was an issue. I also think that we did our best, but they did a good job of exploiting it. I thought [Hannah Noveroske] did a nice job. The first missed shot wasn’t the problem. It was the second ones that they got.”
Toledo had 10 second-chance points.
Noveroske tied the game at 64 with 2:39 left. The Rockets took the lead 17 seconds later on a Quinesha Lockett free throw.
They took a four-point lead with 37 seconds left on a Lockett and-1 that could have been called a charge.
Up three, Toledo allowed a layup with 1.7 seconds left. Mikonowicz in-bounded the ball to Lockett under the St. John’s basket. Falling out of bounds, Lockett passed the ball back to Mikonowicz, and time ran out on the Red Storm.
“I’m really proud of how we persevered, being down the deficit that we were at the half, having 10 turnovers, and they were shooting lights out the first half,” Cullop said. “We could have easily packed up and went home. But this group is so resilient and so mentally tough that they just never give up.”
Lockett had 11 points and five assists. Noveroske’s 13 points and 10 rebounds were the second double-double of her career.
In the fourth quarter, Mikonowicz, Lockett, and Noveroske combined for 18 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.
Noversoke only played 14 total minutes, but she was a game-best plus-19.
“She has been incredibly impactful in this tournament,” Cullop said. “When we needed an easy bucket, she got it for us.”
St. John’s had four players finish in double figures, led by Unique Drake’s game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
The final two minutes of the first half could not have gone worse for UT. The Rockets turned it over on a possession they could have cut the deficit to two points. Two minutes later, they trailed by 10 at halftime.
But Toledo scored the first seven points of the third quarter. Then St. John’s answered with 10 straight. And then UT had a 10-0 run of its own, and the game of runs was on.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Rockets mustered up the defensive intensity to keep the Red Storm at bay.
“I just feel like that’s the game of basketball,” Lockett said. “Both teams are going to have runs. In the fourth quarter when we needed it the most, we just dug down. There was nothing really nerve-wracking about it.”
First Published March 24, 2024, 10:43 p.m.
